1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a set of current collecting elements used for a current collecting roller in a transportation apparatus which receives current from a current collecting line, a current feeder, or a current-feeding rail, and more particularly to a current collecting roller adapted to rotate in contact with the current-feeding rail, to thereby collect current.
2. Prior Art
Two types of current collecting roller have previously been proposed by the inventors. One type was patented as U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,727 (issued on March 1975), which discloses a resilient current collecting roller composed, as a main body, of a solid rubber wheel (refer to FIG. 1) in which a current collecting member is embedded. The other type of roller was filed as U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 594,073 (filed on July 8, 1975, one of the priority dates thereof is the same as that of the present application), which describes a resilient current-collecting roller which is composed, as a main body, of a hollow rubber wheel (refer to FIG. 2) in which a current collecting member is embedded.
The current collecting member in the prior art consists of a number of metallic electroconductive elements 3 embedded in juxtaposed relation in the peripheral surface of the solid or hollow rubber wheel 1, and said electroconductive member electrically connecting the current collecting member 4 to an electroconductive rigid wheel 2, which carries the rubber wheel 1 and serves as a current lead out portion for transmitting driving current, which has been collected by the current collecting roller from a current feeding rail, to a transportation apparatus (not shown). If the electrical connection between the current collecting member and the electroconductive member should be defective, heat is generated between both members, leading to a separation of one member from the other and resulting in damage to that portion.